Military retirees make impact with pensions

When these federal dollars course through South Carolina, the usual complaints may not apply.

The military retirement system paid out $1.3 billion in pension benefits to South Carolina’s retirees from October 2010 through September of 2011. That’s according to a report by the S.C. Department of Commerce Research Division for the S.C. Military Base Task Force.

It was released Tuesday by the state comptroller general. South Carolina has the eighth largest military retiree population in the nation. As of September 30 of last year, 56,486 military retirees made their homes in South Carolina.

Of that total, 22,736 retirees are directly linked to military installations and exert an economic impact of $442 million statewide. Military retirees have a “positive and unique impact on the state’s economy,” writes the authors of the report. That’s because they collect regular retirement payments from the U.S. Department of Defense even as many start a second career after leaving the Armed Services.

These retirees are also different from the general population: If they moved away, they wouldn’t be replaced like a standard workforce employee. Of the six installations statewide with retirees directly linked to them, the top was Joint Base Charleston with 8,692 pensioners yielded $170 million in economic heft.

The Beaufort-Jasper area enjoys its own sizable boost.

At the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, 2,968 retirees account for $58 million in economic impact. At the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, 1,164 retirees yield $23 million. And at Naval Hospital Beaufort, 488 retirees make an economic impact of $10 million. Tuesday’s report said retirees may have chosen to stay put because it’s the site of their last military assignment.

But there’s another reason they're not leaving: They want to keep their access to services at military facilities, such as commissaries and military hospitals. These particular retirees would not settle down in South Carolina if it weren't for the installations, argues the authors. And if they were to leave the state, South Carolina’s economy would suffer a net loss.

Their income from the U.S. Department of Defense pension payments would likely not be replaced. As a measure of the overall footprint, the state’s military community was responsible for $15.7 billion in economic activity and supported 138,161 jobs.